


Watching Shores Ever Watchful

by Illubuu



Series: Dungeons and Dragons [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Funeral, Gen, Tabaxi, Watching Shores
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:36:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21621187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illubuu/pseuds/Illubuu
Summary: Rain in Summer had a long, trying, and difficult journey about the world. But in the end, he would always return home.
Series: Dungeons and Dragons [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1597036
Kudos: 3





	Watching Shores Ever Watchful

The sun had just barely set below the waters of the Edgeless Ocean. The few orange rays struggled to stay in the sky, staining the clouds above them with the last remaining warm colors of light. The torches along the docks were burning bright and had been for some time. Most nights they wouldn’t be lit until well into the evening, but tonight was different.

The soft, mournful hymns of the crowd carried up into the night air, filling it with sound. The words were soft, but the notes strong and full.

_ For wishes that we carry on, _

_ From dusk til light of dawn, _

_ Morning tide bring us back awake, _

_ And dusk’n waves our soul to take. _

The people of Watching Shores sang for everything they did. Morning chores to afternoon lunch, from sailing far to simple fishing trips. Their music was a part of them as much as their hair and clothing were. It was something that brought them together and bound them as one. A quiet shore was a lonely one.

A large tabaxi man, clad in jewelry from his feet to his head, moved out from the crowd and held his hand above his head. The singing slowly fell to a murmur, and then fell to silence entirely. All that could be heard was the snap of burning torches and the lapping waves behind them.

Shimmer-and-Shine cleared his throat. He moved closer to the pyre and placed his hand upon Rain’s shoulder. He glanced down, for the first time looking upon him. 

Rain had been dressed in a traditional  _ ruxun _ gown, colored a bright blue with lighter symbols embroidered on it. He was surrounded completely by summer flowers, nestled beneath him and clasped in his hands. Each had a single piece of paper tied to it with twine - memories and well wishes from his home to send with him into the sea. His fur had been thoroughly cleaned and brushed, then covered with the oil from the dursi tree. 

“We are here to honor one of our own,” Shimmer began. “A wanderer of far off places, one who has touched the corners of the world, and who has finally returned home.”

He reached behind him for a torch and held it in his hand a moment. His mind drifted to the last time they had held such a ceremony as this, in the days following the Daybreak Raids. Rain had been so young then, a boy about to start a life on his own. He’d been such a happy kid, never one to let a scrape on the knee slow him down. Shimmer drew in a shaky breath and moved the torch close enough to the pyre that the flame could catch.

Those had been some of the darkest days of Shimmer’s life. Watching so many of his friends and family suffer beneath the blade of marauders. He’d watched his home nearly burn to the ground, and take everything he’d ever known with it. Rain and Storm had been some of the unlucky ones, losing both of their parents. Shimmer shook his head. They were too young to have to watch their family be sent out to sea. And now, years after, Shimmer had to send the boy out to meet his parents.

“We ask those that reside above to watch over us, to keep our heads above water and our skies clear and blue. We ask for strong winds in our sails and for the flames that shine high in our lighthouses to forever burn to show the way back home.” Shimmer brought a hand to his eyes, wiping at the tears that had started to fall. “We ask that you take our fallen and loved and guide them to the land of Forever. To keep them as we have. To love them as we have. And to reunite them with those we have already lost.”

A gentle breeze blew down from the cliffs, stirring the flames of the pyre. 

Shimmer signaled to two of the boys that stood behind him and they both picked up the ropes tied to the pyre. They pulled and the wooden structure slid along the smooth sand of the beach. 

The waves were gentle this night, lapping softly at the wood of the pyre as it slid into the water. The flowers had begun to burn, giving off the scent of sweet pinxum and eider. The wood of the pyre crackled as the flames grew higher and higher - they would be able to see this for a long while.

Shimmer followed the pyre into the shallow waters. He didn’t bother lifting his pants, rather letting them stick to his legs and fur. He heaved a deep sigh, placing his hands on the back and giving the burning pyre the final push out to sea. He stood there, unmoving, watching as the breeze took Rain and drifted him further from the shores.

Someone behind him began to hum a tune. The Song of Somber Dawn. The same one they had all sang the morning after the Daybreak Raids. The same one they had sang as the Watching Shores began to piece itself back together.

_ Aye, the sun does rise again, _

_ For what else does she know? _

_ Not the darkness or of pain, _

_ Just her gentle glow. _

Shimmer felt a hand on his shoulder, but did not turn. He didn’t want to look away - he would watch until he could no longer see the glimmer of Rain’s fire. And then, when the horizon had fallen to moonlight, he would watch still. The spinning beam from the lighthouse on the cliff above cast its light over the dark waters, sending sparks of white across the dark expanse. 

_ Aye, the sun does rise again, _

_ And does she ever shine. _

_ Her yellow warmth she will send, _

_ To us once more in time. _

The singing was growing louder as more and more joined in. Shimmer was sure that if there rested a God above, they could hear them. Rain’s fire was slowly fading into the starlit sky and in the midst of trying to focus, Shimmer didn’t feel someone move up beside him and take his hand. When he turned, Storm-on-the-Horizon stared back at him, his smile broad but his eyes filled with tears. 

“He’ll be okay,” Storm said, “he always finds a way.”

Shimmer nodded quietly.

“You worry too much.” Storm bumped into Shimmer’s shoulder, squeezing his hand tight. His voice warbled. “Rain’s a stubborn lot. He’ll be with us always, whether we like it or not.”

Shimmer could no longer see the flame of the pyre, only the moonlight now dancing across the small waves and the stars that shined brightly in the dark night sky. His heart felt painfully hollow, but he rose his voice in time with the final verse of the song. Storm beside him joined.

_ Aye, the sun does rise again, _

_ For what else does she know? _

_ Though she’ll leave now and then, _

_ She’ll always come back home. _

_ She’ll always come back home. _


End file.
